I know we haven't posted in awhile, and we apologize to our loyal followers! (That sounds like we run a cult. Watch out, I think I like the sound of that. If I end up being a cult leader, I expect you all to be followers). So, things have been pretty tame here what with the holidays being over and all. Two weeks ago we made our first trip out of site to go visit some fellow PCVs in Shevchenkove. Technically, the town is only about an hour away by car, but, since we had to take the bus to Kupansk and then one to Shevchenkove, it took us four hours one-way which wasn't terrible but different. The buses aren't like Greyhounds which go non-stop to their destination. These buses go through small towns and pick up/drop folks off frequently so it takes a while. Anyway, we saw almost all of the PCVs from our oblast and we ate "mexican" food and had a good time, though we spent at least an hour walking around the town after dark in the freezing cold waiting for them to come back from Kharkiv. It's funny how the "American" food we tend to miss the most is Mexican.
Jeff wanted to know what happened to our "Word of the Week" so here it is:
трудно "trudna"-difficult.
This is in honor of the fact that last week, at my club for 4th graders, I had 12 students. This week, 28 showed up. So, just imagine me (Shannon)in front of 28 Ukrainian speaking 4th graders for an hour with no translator to help me out. (She did great though -Danny) I don't think I have enough games in my brain to keep them occupied every week!
Let's see, what else? Last night, I had an epic fall. I slipped on the ice, but, unfortunately, I had my hands in my pockets and could not extricate them in time to catch myself. I fell face-first into the snow. I mean, my nose and my mouth were covered in snow. There was some consolation, though not much, because Danny fell, too (mainly because he was laughing so hard at me). Needless to say, it's very slippery here. Megan, Davidson's girlfriend fell twice yesterday (the first day she arrived in town). I need to get my snow legs under me.
Danny has started helping with a Romeo and Juliet play (in English) and is playing music in a Chicken Little play (also in English). In order for them to read it, though, we had to adapt it into simpler English. This made me very sad. We also recently acquired a language tutor, so we're on our way to learning better Russian. My schedule has started to fill up, too with my classes, my two Flex hours, tutoring Mary for Olypiad, tutoring Alex, doing the 4th grade club and the leadership club, plus the girl's club. So, don't worry, we're keeping busy. I love the weekends, though I wish we had a better bed! Sleeping on a bar just doesn't make for a good night's sleep.
Today was spent making vareneky which is a pretty involved process. You have to make the puree with onions, salo, and garlic that you fry, then make the vermicelli, then make the dough, then stuff them all. But, we did make enough to last us for a good week or so. (I, at least, hope so because it took me 3 hours).
Well, that's about it for today. We promise to post again soon (in the next week or so). Also, Danny's thinking about doing a radio show, so we'll let you know how that goes. My husband-the superstar. I like the sound of it. Anyway, if I break a hip (or, more appropriately, if Danny breaks a hip) on the ice this week, I'm sure you'll hear about it. I will try to be more careful, though. Not for your sakes, of course, it's just embarrassing in general to be seen slipping and sliding.
Love you all, thanks for reading, and go out and have a nice dinner at a Mexican restaurant for us. Bye!!!!!!
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Novi Gode or When Fun Won't Come To You, Make a Board Game!
Hello friends and family!
Sorry we haven't posted in a while. It's not that we've been too busy. Actually, it's quite the opposite. We truly have not done a whole a lot since the last time we posted. We had a nice Christmas with Davidson and his girlfriend Megan (both PCVs). We cooked Borscht (which went bad due to slightly old cabbage), deruny (fried potato cakes), corn, potato salad and coleslaw. It was all very delicious (except for the Borscht which tasted like a burned shoe) and we had a nice night.
Afterward, we (or rather Ukraine) celebrated the New Year on Dec 31/Jan 1 just like in the States. However, unlike in the States, most people gather with family and friends and do not venture out. Since Davidson and Megan left to go to Lviv and we couldn't buy a train or bus ticket out of town, we stayed indoors as well and made cabbage rolls (Galupsi) which are stuffed with ground meat and rice. They are very tasty. We ate them and went to bed around 12:30.
Next, (this weekend actually) was Ukrainian Christmas. It was pretty tame. Most of the stores in town were open and life went on as usual for the most part. We really didn't do anything for it. Last night, Shannon's counterpart invited us to her relatives' house for dinner which we accepted. They fed us very tasty food and we talked to them about all kinds of stuff for over six hours. Then Davidson came over and we ate and hung out. We also learned Cribbage, which is unusual.
So, that's pretty much all we've done. It snowed here and there's about 4 or 5 inches on the ground. I fell in the road on the way to the supermarket on Friday which is my first undisputed fall in Ukraine and honestly I can't believe it didn't come sooner. It didn't hurt it was just fast and I didn't even try to save myself. Just let it happen. Didn't see it coming at all. I'm sure it won't be the last.
Though we really enjoy each other's company, things can get pretty boring when you have two weeks in which to do nothing. It also doesn't help that we really don't know anyone here yet. So, to pass the time, here's some of the things we did to keep busy:
-read including Treasure Island, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Ukrainian Folk Tales, and The Idiot
-cooked
-learned, played, and sang together many new songs
-learned/played Cribbage, War, Rummy, and Hearts
-Shannon got addicted to minesweeper and spider solitaire
-made a pop-o-matic trouble board game out of paper
-created our own 'Danny and Shannon's life' board game out of paper
-drew portraits of each other
-lesson plans, etc.
-wrote a small novel
just kidding about that last one but, to be honest, we probably had time for it! So, tomorrow is officially the first day back at school so I don't think we'll have much time for any of the above activities for awhile!
Last thing I will say is we have a mailing address now. Actually, we have Davidson's PO Box as the post office here has no vacant PO boxes to sell us. But, you can send stuff to this address and Davidson has assured us that he will only steal the tasty things and expensive things. When he leaves in June we will continue to keep this box so, hopefully, this will be the only PO box address we will need. Ok. So, here it is:
Wissing, Davidson
c/o: (me or Shannon)
a/c 23 PO Box 5
Izium, Kharkivskaya Obl., 64309
Ukraine
Віссінг, Дeвiдcoн
a/c 23 a/я 5
м. Ізюм
Харківська обл., 64309
Україна
So, you have to put both addresses on the package and one must be in Cyrillic so I would just print both of them off and tape them to the box/envelope. If you have any questions let us know. Remember, it takes at least two weeks for things to arrive and if you send something please ask for a tracking number so that we can check its status right up until it arrives at the post office. I think they will notify Davidson if a package arrives but it would be helpful for all of us here.
With that I will say goodbye for now. We love and miss you as always.
-Danny and Shannon
Sorry we haven't posted in a while. It's not that we've been too busy. Actually, it's quite the opposite. We truly have not done a whole a lot since the last time we posted. We had a nice Christmas with Davidson and his girlfriend Megan (both PCVs). We cooked Borscht (which went bad due to slightly old cabbage), deruny (fried potato cakes), corn, potato salad and coleslaw. It was all very delicious (except for the Borscht which tasted like a burned shoe) and we had a nice night.
Afterward, we (or rather Ukraine) celebrated the New Year on Dec 31/Jan 1 just like in the States. However, unlike in the States, most people gather with family and friends and do not venture out. Since Davidson and Megan left to go to Lviv and we couldn't buy a train or bus ticket out of town, we stayed indoors as well and made cabbage rolls (Galupsi) which are stuffed with ground meat and rice. They are very tasty. We ate them and went to bed around 12:30.
Next, (this weekend actually) was Ukrainian Christmas. It was pretty tame. Most of the stores in town were open and life went on as usual for the most part. We really didn't do anything for it. Last night, Shannon's counterpart invited us to her relatives' house for dinner which we accepted. They fed us very tasty food and we talked to them about all kinds of stuff for over six hours. Then Davidson came over and we ate and hung out. We also learned Cribbage, which is unusual.
So, that's pretty much all we've done. It snowed here and there's about 4 or 5 inches on the ground. I fell in the road on the way to the supermarket on Friday which is my first undisputed fall in Ukraine and honestly I can't believe it didn't come sooner. It didn't hurt it was just fast and I didn't even try to save myself. Just let it happen. Didn't see it coming at all. I'm sure it won't be the last.
Though we really enjoy each other's company, things can get pretty boring when you have two weeks in which to do nothing. It also doesn't help that we really don't know anyone here yet. So, to pass the time, here's some of the things we did to keep busy:
-read including Treasure Island, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Ukrainian Folk Tales, and The Idiot
-cooked
-learned, played, and sang together many new songs
-learned/played Cribbage, War, Rummy, and Hearts
-Shannon got addicted to minesweeper and spider solitaire
-made a pop-o-matic trouble board game out of paper
-created our own 'Danny and Shannon's life' board game out of paper
-drew portraits of each other
-lesson plans, etc.
-wrote a small novel
just kidding about that last one but, to be honest, we probably had time for it! So, tomorrow is officially the first day back at school so I don't think we'll have much time for any of the above activities for awhile!
Last thing I will say is we have a mailing address now. Actually, we have Davidson's PO Box as the post office here has no vacant PO boxes to sell us. But, you can send stuff to this address and Davidson has assured us that he will only steal the tasty things and expensive things. When he leaves in June we will continue to keep this box so, hopefully, this will be the only PO box address we will need. Ok. So, here it is:
Wissing, Davidson
c/o: (me or Shannon)
a/c 23 PO Box 5
Izium, Kharkivskaya Obl., 64309
Ukraine
Віссінг, Дeвiдcoн
a/c 23 a/я 5
м. Ізюм
Харківська обл., 64309
Україна
So, you have to put both addresses on the package and one must be in Cyrillic so I would just print both of them off and tape them to the box/envelope. If you have any questions let us know. Remember, it takes at least two weeks for things to arrive and if you send something please ask for a tracking number so that we can check its status right up until it arrives at the post office. I think they will notify Davidson if a package arrives but it would be helpful for all of us here.
With that I will say goodbye for now. We love and miss you as always.
-Danny and Shannon
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